Paltrow Fails Food Challenge: but Many Have no Choice

Gwyneth Paltrow could only complete four days of her planned seven on the food-stamp challenge. She had a choice, and it is nice to have choices – but for millions of Americans there is no choice.

But she gave herself a C- for not completing the challenge. Apparently she had a choice for grades, because when most don’t complete assignments they get an F for failure. Ms. Paltrow had a choice to give herself a grade, and I gather she thinks that failing is average – but such is the life of those who have choices, and privilege.

What was odd was she touted recipes for things like black bean taquitos, black bean cakes with grilled corn salsa, kale with sweet potato sauté with poached eggs – and while those sound wonderful – even she could not do this. She wrote a cookbook, but if she isn’t going to eat what she says is good then why should we buy her cookbook?

Many of my patients don’t have a choice. They live on a budget where if you spend too much for food you don’t have the money to buy medicine. It is a tight budget, and unlike Ms. Paltrow who decided to splurge and to buy a half bag of black licorice and then she went to some restaurant with date – most of my patients can’t do that.

Simon Majumdar and I will test recipes for nutrition and taste. We take it seriously

But two of us, Simon Majumdar and I, still take this seriously. We want your recipes. We will judge them for nutrition, and Simon Majumdar will judge them for flavor. We want to give you the tools to have a great meal because if you have a budget, you don’t have a choice.

Help us, because apparently we cannot depend upon Gwyneth to help us.

About Dr. Terry SimpsonDr. Terry Simpson received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Chicago where he spent several years in the Kovler Viral Oncology laboratories doing genetic engineering. He found he liked people more than petri dishes, and went to medical school. Dr. Simpson, a weight loss surgeon is an advocate of culinary medicine. The first surgeon to become certified in Culinary Medicine, he believes teaching people to improve their health through their food and in their kitchen. On the other side of the world, he has been a leading advocate of changing health care to make it more "relationship based," and his efforts awarded his team the Malcolm Baldrige award for healthcare in 2011 for the NUKA system of care in Alaska and in 2013 Dr Simpson won the National Indian Health Board Area Impact Award. A frequent contributor to media outlets discussing health related topics and advances in medicine, he is also a proud dad, husband, author, cook, and surgeon “in that order.” For media inquiries, please visit www.terrysimpson.com.

Latest Comments

kelly loesays:

My mom-in-laws Ham & Beans soup recipe—we just love it- cheap to make and great protein!
4 large cans of Bush’s or Randall’s brand Great Northern beans (or use equiv amount bag of beans)
1-1/2 cans of water
small to med. onion diced
1-2 stalks celery, minced
1 carrot, diced
Ham, diced
Season to taste with Salt, Pepper, onion powder, Garlic powder, or whatever your preference is.
Cook till veggies are done. Tastes even better the next day. And the next. And the next.